Therapy won’t change mayor, poll says

San Diegans do not believe the therapy Mayor Bob Filner plans to receive over a two-week period will change his behavior, according to a U-T San Diego/10News Poll released Monday.

The mayor announced on Friday he will seek therapy after seven women came forward and accused him of unwanted sexual advances and sexual harassment. Filner said the two-week intensive program at an unspecified clinic beginning Aug. 5 would just be the start of ongoing treatment.

The survey also shows respondents want him to step aside temporarily while receiving the intensive treatment. Recent U-T/10News polls have showed strong majorities want him to resign, and if he doesn’t, recalled from office.

Half those surveyed in the new poll said their opinion about the local Democratic Party is the same as before the scandal, but 40 percent said it was worse. The county party central committee initially deadlocked on whether to call for Filner to step down, but then voted to demand his resignation after the women went public.

The automated telephone poll was conducted using landlines and cellphones by SurveyUSA, which contacted 500 adults. The margin of error ranges from 4 percentage points to 4.5 percentage points.

The questions and results:

Mayor Bob Filner says he will check into a behavior counseling clinic for two weeks of intensive therapy. Will the therapy cause his personal behavior to change? Or not?